4 super important things to learn during the Detroit Lions' compressed OTAs, rookie should get reps with the first team
The Detroit Lions will head to OTAs this week, starting on Wednesday, and it will be a quick six-day event. Following this, the Lions will forgo their mandatory mini-camp in favor of starting training camp early in mid-July, allowing them to prepare for the Hall of Fame game. While it's short, there are still some […]
The Detroit Lions will head to OTAs this week, starting on Wednesday, and it will be a quick six-day event. Following this, the Lions will forgo their mandatory mini-camp in favor of starting training camp early in mid-July, allowing them to prepare for the Hall of Fame game.
While it's short, there are still some super important things that we can begin to learn during this time, since there will be some tackle-free and pad-free reps going on. This is what we need to pay attention to.
Aidan Hutchinson's first time back on the field
This is huge. This is going to be Aidan Hutchinson getting back on the field with the team for the first time since suffering a broken leg against the Cowboys in Week 6 of the 2024 season. There should be some rust to shake off and some things to get used to again, but we're going to see how things look athletically, and that's huge.
Giovanni Manu's growth
These won't be full-on live reps, but there will be opportunities to see how far Manu has come since last summer, when we last saw him on the field. He's prepped all season last year and then spent time with Taylor Decker in Arizona this offseason. Penei Sewell says he's gotten technically better, but still needs to improve the mental part of his game, which comes with reps. Let's see some reps.
Isaac TeSlaa possibly getting reps with the first team
Personally, my expectation is that by the end of the summer, Teslaa takes the WR3 spot from Tim Patrick. If not at that time, then at some point in 2025. OTAs are the beginning of that. The Lions should be working TeSlaa in with the first team as early as now to see what they have there.
How are players gelling with the new coordinators?
We know that both John Morton and especially Kelvin Sheppard have been around this team before, but they're both the Lions coordinators for the first time now. This is going to be our first look at how players gel with these guys being the new play callers. We'll see what's working fast and what needs some time.
Peyton Manning predicted the Lions’ future back in 2008, and it took very little for him to do, did he do it again this year?
Who remembers the 2008 Detroit Lions season? Me either. Not sure what happened that year. But I do know what happened in the off-season that followed it. The thing is, I didn't know ahead of time. Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning sure did, though. Manning's older brother, Cooper Manning, was on the Under the […]
